China jails 113 in Xinjiang mass sentencing

BEIJING (AFP) ― Courts in China’s ethnically-divided Xinjiang, home to mainly Muslim Uighurs, have sentenced 113 people to jail on mostly terrorism-related offences, state-run media said, as authorities press a crackdown following several deadly attacks.

Four suspects were sentenced to life in prison, while 109 others were given sentences for crimes ranging from “organizing and leading terrorist groups” to “bigamy and drug dealing,” Xinjiang’s government web portal Tianshan said late Sunday.

Beijing has vowed a year-long nationwide crackdown on terrorism after attackers killed 39 people in the Xinjiang capital Urumqi last month, one of several high-profile attacks blamed on militants from the far-western region.